Carla took the fuming Moon out of the room to give her a change of clothes. No one said anything to her as she left, not wanting to make matters worse by sympathizing with her.
Moon felt humiliated; if she had a gun with her, she would have just shot Ariel, and damn the consequences.
She’s never been that insulted before, by a classless bitch too. She would make sure Ariel regretted every single she did to her today.
Moon was just waiting for Aiden to wake up so she could report to him how disrespectful and wicked his so-called wife was; she couldn’t wait to see the hurt on Ariel’s face when she would be punished by Aiden. She knew Aiden never liked anything or anyone who hurt or made her sad. So, now, it’s time she played the innocent sibling game.
Inside the room, Ariel walked out of the bathroom but couldn’t find Moon anywhere. She was glad; she was too tired to have another catfight.
But, thinking back to what she did, it surprised her. If it were before, she would have let herself get bullied for free, but not anymore. Now, she wasn’t going to be people’s pastime or entertainment.
No one was ever going to slap her or maltreat her like she was some slave. It was time she stood her ground. She had been so suppressed by her family that she thought that she was worth nothing in life, so she had to accept all the ill treatments they brought her way.
But, ever since she met Aiden, she couldn’t tell why but unconsciously, she felt more confident in herself. And she wasn’t about to let that confidence slide.
“I can help you wipe him down,” Ken walked up to Ariel as he saw her coming out of the bathroom with another bowl of water.
Ariel smoothly walked past him, shaking her head. “It’s alright, it’s not that hard, I can do it,” She replied, not looking at his face.
She had also come to understand that her life was hers only, she didn’t need anyone to validate her before she loved herself.
She slowly placed the bowl on the bedside drawer and searched for the towel.
“Here,” Ken placed a towel in front of her face.
“Thank you,” Ariel took it from him and turned away.
She was disappointed in him, how could he ask her if she loved Aiden? That means he also saw her as some pretender who was just looking for someone to pity her.
She couldn’t be friends with someone like that.
As she soaked the towel and went to unbutton Aiden’s hospital shirt, she remembered what Carla had said; Aiden had used his body to shield her from the impact of the accident.
Why did he have to do that? What if he died instead?
That was the only reason she was taking care of him, because she was supposed to be the one in his condition.
Nothing else, not because she cared for him or had feelings for him.
Ken stood aside, watching Ariel as she carefully unbuttoned Aiden’s shirt, he felt his heart sinking, but he couldn’t do anything about it.
He had prepared himself for this, he knew Ariel might have to act as a wife at some point. But when it was actually happening, he realized it was going to be hard for him to endure.
He had even succeeded in speaking to Ariel in a way that offended her, and now, she wasn’t ready to speak to him anymore.
He sighed and moved to a chair in a corner, sitting and observing Ariel.
He knew he should leave the room, but he couldn’t bring himself to; he trusted Ariel, but ever since he saw her kiss Aiden, he just felt like he shouldn’t let them be alone; he no longer trusted Aiden; he could no longer decipher his feelings.
Ariel finished unbuttoning Ariel’s shirt and squeezed off some water from the towel; she wiped his face first, trying her best not to get lost while she stared at his handsome face.
She then proceeded to wipe his neck and chest; Aiden’s body never ceased to mesmerize her; she’d never seen him work out, but his body didn’t have any single fat, only lean and toned muscles.
As she wiped his chest, Aiden suddenly groaned, turning his face from side to side.
“Stop…” He murmured quietly.
Ariel snapped her eyes to his face and saw how creased his forehead was, she paused what she was doing and leaned down to his face.
“Aiden, can you hear me? What did you say? Do you want something?” She asked quietly.
But Aiden only kept wincing, turning his face from side to side.
Ariel removed the towel from his body and placed it back on the bowl.
She gently placed her hand on his forehead and checked his temperature. It had reduced, but why was he still looking as if he was in pain?
Ariel instinctively took his hand and spoke to him. “Aiden, it’s alright; it’s just the fever; you’ll be fine,” She whispered beside his ear, using her other free hand to massage his forehead.
“Stop… don’t do it…” Aiden muttered again.
She didn’t understand what he was talking about, but she knew it must be something from his past, something she didn’t know about yet.
Ken was beside her in the next second, he gently placed a hand on her back.
“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine, it’s just his usual nightmares,” Ken informed quietly.
Ariel frowned, usual nightmares?
She slowly lifted herself and finally looked at Ken. “His usual nightmares? But, I’ve never heard him mutter in his sleep,” She replied.
Ken paused for a second, what Ariel said h6ust made him realize that Aiden and Ariel might even be sleeping in the same room… the same bed.
He masked his feelings and nodded, “Yes, I know he hasn’t told you about his past, but it’s not my place to tell,” Ken brought his hand up to Ariel’s arm.
“Ariel, about what I said earlier-”
“Don’t leave…” Aiden mustered again, interrupting Ken and tightening his hold on Ariel’s hand that was holding his.
Ariel turned her face back to him. “At least, tell me what he’s talking about,” She spoke to Ken, but her face was turned to Aiden.
Ken shook his head, “You know Aiden, he’d never be happy with me if I did.”
Ariel nodded, fair point. They meant nothing to each other, so prying about his backstory would be seen as invading his privacy.
“Okay, I understand,” She nodded.
“What were you saying earlier, Ken?” She asked with interest.
At the end of the day, she wasn’t going to ignore him forever; they could still be friends, just that she was just going to be mindful of how she related with everyone around her.
Ken was happy she asked him, that meant she was no longer angry at him.
“How about we step out of the room and talk about it? I have quite a few things I want to talk to you,” Ken suggested, taking her hand.
Ariel nodded, but when she tried to remove her hand from Aiden’s hold, his hold tightened, “Stay…” He whispered.
Ariel shared a look with Ken, then looked at Aiden.
His eyes were still closed but she felt like he was talking to her this time.
Ariel tried to remove her hand, but he wouldn’t let go, “I’m sorry, Ken, I guess I have to sit beside him for a while,” She sighed and lowered herself beside Aiden.
Ken paused his lips; he felt like a third wheel, and he wasn’t going to keep staying and hurting himself.
He smiled at Ariel and told her, “It’s okay, Ariel, I need to speak to Carla anyway.” He nodded politely and left the room.
His thoughts went back to what Viktor had told him. He desperately hoped that Viktir wad wrong.
Ariel was sitting on the bed beside Aiden, he still held her hand tightly, but the crease on his forehead was gone and he had stopped murmuring.
She wondered what Aiden was dreaming about. She knew it was from the past because she also experiences such nightmares from time to time.
She stared at his peaceful face.
‘So handsome,’ She thought.
She shook her head, wondering how someone so good-looking could be so heartless like Aiden.
She was lost in admiring his face when she suddenly felt his arms around her waist, she immediately looked down and saw how he locked his two hands around her tummy.
She looked at his face again and still saw that he had his eyes closed. For a second, she almost believed that he was pretending if not for how peaceful his face looked.
Instead of being uncomfortable by sitting one-sided because of his hug, she decided to lay herself beside him, she too was tired and needed to catch some sleep.
She gently removed his hands and lay herself beside him with her back to him. She rested her head on the small part of the pillow, not wanting to make him uncomfortable.
After adjusting herself to a possition that was comfortable enough for her to sleep, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
She thought back to what Aiden was saying to her before he became unconscious and came to realize that it was just his fever making him to say things he didn’t mean.
Aiden could never apologize to her, and he could never truly love her. He was a mean man, he only cared about his career and nothing more.
But, Ariel also discovered something alarming about herself; she realized that no matter how bad Aiden was treating her, she no longer hated him as she used to.
It scared her, she was supposed to be hating him more with every passing second, rather, instead of hate, she was trying to find some good attributes about him which was hard to find, but she felt herself hoping she would find something likable about him.
And instead of being unaffected by his hurtful words and attitude, she was becoming more sensitive to them, as if she really cared what he thought about her and how he treated her.
Ariel stiffened as Aiden suddenly hugged her close to himself again, his arm possesively held her waist, his front snuggly plastered behind her.
“Aiden, if you’re awake stop playing with me already, I’m tired,” She said in a tired voice.
Instead of a reply, she felt Aiden steady warm breath at the back of her neck, which indicated that he was still asleep.
But what the sleeping Aiden said next made Ariel’s whole body hum with an indescribable feeling of intense warmth that spread through her.
Aiden placed a very soft kiss on her neck, “I really do love you, Ariel,” His voice was groggy and deep.